Broken
by thecosmicwind
Summary: Elliot finds out some information that leads to heartbreak for himself and his four children. But despite the heartbreak, he knows there's one person who will help him put it back together again. Season 1 E/O one-shot. Rated M for language.


**Hey Guys.**

 **I'm back again with a season 1 one shot. It's a little sad...Elliot finds out some information that leads to heartbreak for him and his children. But in the end, there's one person who will help heal the hearts of this broken family.**

 **Enjoy xoxo**

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 **Broken - ONESHOT**

Tears were stinging in his oceanic blue eyes. His fists were clenched, his muscles twitched ever so slightly. His forearms were resting on the wooden kitchen table, and the unfolded papers were staring back at him, mocking him, only being seen through a haze of tears.

He couldn't believe this was happening. After fifteen years of marriage, she was walking away. Away from their marriage, away from their four kids, away from him.

And he was furious.

He knew things hadn't been great lately. They were arguing a little bit more, mainly about him and his long hours at work – something he couldn't necessarily help as being a cop was an extremely demanding job and had him working all hours of the night. Other arguments had revolved around him shutting her out, but she didn't realize that he was only trying to protect her from the horrors of the job. He wouldn't put those images in her head and keep her up at night, have her simply staring at the ceiling, replaying the most horrible scenes, like he would do on a night.

And then lately, arguments were directed towards one thing – one _person –_ in particular: his partner at work, the bubbly and confident and innocent Olivia Benson.

His wife hated her. He didn't even really know why Kathy hated her so much, because she was a truly friendly, respectful woman. Even when she had been over for dinner to meet his family a few weeks prior, she had been nothing, but kind and Kathy had been rude to her all evening; barely acknowledging her if she asked a question or made a comment or shutting down any funny stories or comments she shared with the kids. The kids had even noticed her behavior, and even they were annoyed with her by the end. The following day at work, Olivia had awkwardly apologized for possibly offending or upsetting Kathy in anyway, though Elliot immediately dismissed the apology and assured her that she did nothing wrong. When he confronted Kathy that night about her behavior, Kathy openly admitted that there was something about Olivia that she didn't like but wouldn't exactly point out what was so wrong with her.

And now the arguments consisted of Kathy implying that Elliot wanted to spend more time at work with Olivia than at home. Elliot had been trying harder – making more of an effort to come home, spending more time helping his children or helping Kathy; anything to prove that he was serious about this marriage and that his priority was her and the children.

But obviously that hadn't been enough. He had come across these divorce papers when he was sorting through the mail on the counter, and now he was hurt and angry.

He heard the front door open and close and heard some keys jingling; Kathy was home. He simply sighed and looked up as she entered the kitchen, and when he saw the look of shock that came across her face, it was clear that she hadn't expected him to find out this way.

"El-"

"These papers are dated from two weeks ago," he interrupted, focusing his gaze back on the documents, "How long have you been planning this?"

"Elliot, I was going to tell you," Kathy stepped closer; "El, you know we haven't been happy for a while – maybe this is what we need to do."

"What _we_ need to do or what _you_ need to do?" he raised an eyebrow as he stood up, towering over her as he glared down at her; "Kath, I've been trying as hard as I can. Coming home at a decent time, spending more time with you and the kids; I wanted us to work but you've just given up?"

"This is what's best," Kathy simply shrugged, turning to walk away; "I've already packed a bag, I'm gonna go stay at my sister's house for a while until-"

"You're just gonna leave me and the kids like that?" he let out a chuckle, running his hand down his face, "Do you have any idea what it would do to them or to me? You just leaving like this?" He grabbed hold of her arm, turning her to face him;

"Tell me what's really going on."

"Elliot-"

"No, clearly there's something else that this is about," His voice was going up an octave as the anger coursed through his veins, "Is it about me working too much? Is it about me being partnered with Olivia? What is it?"

"Elliot-"

"I've given you all of me, as much as I could, and tried my damn hardest to provide for this family and you just walk away like this? Are you serious?" he swallowed the ball of emotion in his throat, his vision blurring with unshed tears, "Do you have any fucking idea how much I truly love you, Kath? I love you and I would do anything to make this work."

"It's too late, El."

"What do you mean it's too late?" Elliot asked. Kathy looked down, before looking back at him again;

"Because there's someone else, Elliot – and I'm pregnant with his baby."

And just like that, Elliot felt like his world had truly shattered. Kathy had actually been cheating on him, and was now leaving him for this other man – and was having a baby by this person? He felt sick to his stomach. He slowly let go of Kathy's arm and took a minute to gather himself, steadying his swaying by holding onto the table in front of him. He gripped the sides of the table so hard that his knuckles were turning white; the anger was coursing through him and he knew he just needed to take a breath or two to simply calm down a bit.

But he was pissed, and he was _hurt._

"Elliot, I'm so so-"

"Please don't say you're sorry," he snapped, finally standing up straight to look at her again, "Are you fucking serious, Kathy? We have a family and you go out and do this? And now you're leaving? What the fuck?"

"Elliot if anything it's your fault!"

"My fault; how the fuck-"

"You were always working, always with…with… _her_ ," Kathy retorted, glaring at him; "What was I supposed to do when you would barely look at me or touch me? I'm sorry it happened this way, but I needed some comfort and well…he gave it to me."

"So, what the fuck has the last fifteen years been, Kathy? Nothing?" he shot back.

"They meant something to me, so don't you dare say they didn't – but Elliot, we haven't been happy, and he makes me happy; I'm just sorry that it happened like this and that you found out this way – I was going to tell you."

"Were you gonna tell me before or after you fucking left me and our kids?"

"Elliot don't be like this."

"Don't be like what?" Elliot let out a bitter laugh, running his hand down his face, "I work my ass off to provide for this family and you fucking cheat on me enough to get pregnant? And you're leaving me when I've been trying to be better? You're a fucking joke, Kathy."

"Like you haven't cheated on me already!" Kathy shot back, shoving him slightly. Elliot paused, taking a deep breath and clenching his fists. He had never wanted to hit something or _someone_ as bad as he wanted to hit Kathy right now, but he also knew that he never, ever would raise a hand to a woman or child.

"I would never, you know that," He growled, glaring at her as rage coursed through him, "I would never fucking do that to you; never ever."

"Yeah right; you're probably fucking Olivia," she scoffed, "So the way I see it, we're even."

"What the fuck do you mean _we're even_? You cannot be serious?" he spat back before shouting at her again, "I have never, ever slept with Olivia. She's my partner and my friend; I'm not like you – I'm not a selfish son of a bitch that would just throw away my family and marriage, unlike you."

"Whatever," Kathy rolled her eyes, pushing past him, "El, there's more to life than this – just sign the damn papers so I can move on."

"So that's it? You're done?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

Elliot glared at her; "Tell your kids that you're leaving."

"Too late."

Both Elliot and Kathy suddenly stopped and looked towards the stairs. Four little people were stood at the bottom; a pair six-year-old twins with wobbly lips and watery eyes, and a twelve and fifteen-year-old with matching scowls on their faces as they stared at their mother.

"Kids-" Kathy began.

"You're leaving?" Maureen asked, glaring at the woman.

"Kids," Kathy sighed, "I'm sorry; it's just…I have to go. You can understand that, right?"

"Yeah we understand," Kathleen folded her arms across her chest, "Understand that you're leaving because some other guy knocked you up."

"This isn't Olivia's fault either, you know that," Maureen chimed in; "You're just selfish."

Kathy looked at the hurt looks on the faces of her children, before looking back at Elliot, whom was still looking down at the papers on the table, an equally hurt look on his face. She stepped closer to him, hesitantly placing his hand on her arm.

"El-"

"Get out."

"Elliot-"

"Get out," He turned his head to look at her, "Get out of my house and away from my kids."

Kathy sighed and made her way towards the stairs. The children moved closer and Elliot engulfed them in a hug, muffling the sounds of their sniffles as their hearts broke. He had to be strong for them, but all he wanted to do was cry himself as he couldn't believe that this final argument was leading to all of this. His heart felt like it was shattered into pieces, and he couldn't even imagine how his kids were feeling at the moment.

Broken – this family was just broken.

Kathy returned downstairs about half an hour later, with some bags in tow. She looked over at the kitchen area where all the kids were sitting with Elliot, whom was fiddling with the papers in his hands. She sighed and slipped the ring off her finger, shooting a look over at them all.

"I guess it won't be long before you call Olivia."

Elliot's head shot up; Kathy was glaring at him again while placing the wedding ring on the counter. Before he could even say another word, she had stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him. Even after all of this, she couldn't even kiss her kids goodbye and had made one final jab regarding Olivia. He swallowed hard as he listened to the sound of the car starting and her driving off. She had really walked away from all of this, leaving them all in the kitchen, broken beyond repair.

Elliot shuffled the twins down to the chair he had been sitting on and stood up properly. He grabbed the cordless phone from its base on the wall and dialed a number before holding it up to his ear. He waited a few moments, waiting until the familiar voice answered. He swallowed, before managing to speak;

"Hey, can you come over – please?"

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Half an hour later, Elliot was sitting on the sofa with all the kids cuddled up to him. They were staring at the cartoon movie on television in a bid to take their minds off what had happened, but it was no use as the twins had a solemn look on their faces as they obviously understood that had happened. Kathleen just looked angry and hurt, and Maureen was trying to keep a straight face even though it was obvious that she too was hurt by her mother's actions.

The doorbell rang, bringing them all from their thoughts. Elliot stood up and made his way to the door, his hands shaking slightly as he quickly tugged the door open.

She was standing there in a pair of navy blue NYPD sweat pants, a grey long-sleeved NYPD shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, and her eyes were full of concern as she looked at him.

"El, what happened?" she was staring straight at him as she stepped into the house; her eyes were still watching his every move as he shut and locked the door. He then turned back to her, swallowing hard as tears filled his eyes again.

"Kathy," he paused, taking a second to composing himself;

"She left me and the kids; cheated on me and got pregnant by the other guy – she left."

And finally, the dam seemed to break. Tears flew down his cheeks, his heart seemingly shattering even more as the reality of the situation dawned on him. The anger was gone now, and everything was sinking in, and he just felt so broken.

He felt her pull him into a hug and he slid his arms around her tiny waist, clinging to her like a small child as he kept his head on her shoulder and cried. She soothingly stroked the back of his head and whispered that she was there and that things would be okay, and that she wasn't going to let him or the kids down. She was there for him and there for his kids, and that's all he truly needed to hear.

She let go after a few minutes and rubbed his back, before going off to see the kids. He watched as they all immediately shuffled into her arms as soon as she sat down on the sofa, all four of them piling onto her as they all were crying yet again. The twins were curled up in her lap and clinging to her, while Maureen and Kathleen were sitting on either side of her and resting against her. Olivia assured them that she would be there for them and soothed them as best she could though her heart was breaking for these kids.

She turned and looked up at Elliot, whom was standing in the doorway of the living room, watching the scene unfold with tears in his blue eyes. She gave him a head nod, a silent way of assuring him that she wasn't going anywhere and that they were all going to be okay. Elliot nodded back at her. He knew what she was saying, and he believed her. They were going to be okay. This was painful now and their family was shattered, but they were going to be okay.

With Olivia around, they would always be okay.

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 _ **I hope you guys enjoyed this little one-shot. There's more where this came from. Until next time...xoxo**_


End file.
